100% Tommie Liddell
The Legend Continues to Grow
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Mark Conyers
Editor of the Illinois based HoopsOasis.com
Per an e-mail reply
"Quotable"
"Tommie Liddell has been vastly underrated both on a statewide and national basis. I think if more people had seen him play with either his high school team or AAU, he would have more of a national rep. I have been a big fan of his since his sophmore year, and I have told many people I believe he will play in the NBA someday".
HoopsOasis ranks Tommie Liddell as the #2 Basketball prospect for the 2005 Class of Illinois prospects.
"Quotable"
Athletic and skilled but plays with great patience. Makes teammates better but doesn't force the action. Lefty uses long loping strides to beat the defense, usually to his right hand. Would rather pass than score himself. Can finish above the rim, very good in transition. Good rebounder, length makes him effective on defense. Line drive perimeter strokes needs consistency. 16ppg, 9rpg,& 5apg on Class AA Supersectional Team. Committed to St Louis U. High Major+
Rob Harrington of Prepstars.com
Per an e-mail reply
"Quotable"
"Thanks for getting in touch, our ranking guy has not seen Tommie in a while, but we all know he is a good player. I think he will be ranked in the National 125 or so and I think he could end up even better than that. The key for him is to become a more consistent jumpshooter. He is a very good handler and passer, so much so that he can run the point. Now he just needs to refine his offense".
BreakdownMagazine.com:
17 August 2004
The Florida based website rates Tommie Liddell as the 28th Best Basketball prospect of the 2005 Class.
"Quotable"
"Forget the politics and hype. This is the true Top 50 players in the 2005 Class". "Most people in the business usually play follow the leader, we rank on what we see and most times we are right on the money".
Eric Bossi of the Insiders.com networks rated Liddell as the 58th best prospect of the 2005 Class. Post Summer Rankings(PR-66)
Eric Bossi
"Quotable" 24 July 2004
"Last week at the ABCD Tommie Liddell created a ton of confusion when he de-commited from SLU before committing to UNLV only to switch back to his original pledge to SLU. Maybe that confusion hampered his play as the athletic 6'5 lefty was back to his usual self on Friday while matched against his old rival Brandon Rush. You can count on him to get out in transition and finish in the open court and slash to the rim in half court sets. What you can't count on is the ability to knock home some jump shots. Well, the jump shot was rolling from 15-20 feet on Friday as Liddell showed why SLU may have gotten the biggest steal in the country by reacquiring his services. Tommie needs to add some strength, but odds are that a year at Hargrave will take care of that"
Rivals.com
"Quotable" July 2004
Evaluating Liddell at the Reebok Las Vegas Big Time
"Shooting Guard Tommie Liddell playing with Team Detroit is a smooth lefty and when his shot is falling is hard to stop".
St Louis University Head Coach Brad Soderberg
"Quotable" November 2003
"I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this young man has a chance to play beyond SLU if everything works out and he develops his potential to the fullest. He is as skilled a guard I have been around in 20 years in the business".
Former SLU Great Erwin Claggett
"Quotable" November 2003
"Tommie has a great feel for the game and played well for us (St Louis Eagles AAU Team) at small forward, shooting guard, and at the point. He will be a welcomed addition at SLU because he is a great kid, is respectful,and is coachable. He knows the game and will become a great Division 1 player over the next 4 years".
Rob Matera of Hoopmasters.com
"Quotable" April 2003 Boo Williams Player Evaluations
"Tommie Liddell is a pure scorer from the 2-guard spot. He's well built, kind of like a bigger more athletic version of Illinois signee Richard McBride. Liddell can slash to the basket as well as drain three balls with ease. One of the bigger surprises of the tournament. We heard he was good, but he was much better than we thought. Big Time prospect".
Jeremy Tiers of Hoopmasters.com
"Quotable" May 2003 Howard Pulley/Sabes Player Evaluations
"Liddell is very athletic, loves to score and can do it from all over the court. His favorite move this weekend was a spin move off the dribble for a mid-range jumpshot. He also demonstrated the ability to slash to the hoop and drain the 3-pointer. He even brought the ball up the court a couple of times".
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Taking His Place Among the All-Time Greats
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A lot of people like to shortchange the career of Tommie Liddell. They point to the fact that Liddell has never made it to the IHSA state finals. I say outside of Darius Miles and Laphonso Ellis, no other ESL great would have achieved as much with what Liddell had to work with. Understand that Laphonso Ellis and Darius Miles made multiple trips to the IHSA State Finals, but also understand that those two were teammates with multiple Division 1 prospects. Ellis( James Harris, Chris Rodgers, Vincent Jackson, Counzo Martin,and Chris McKinney); Miles( Dewayne Watson, Terrence Slater, Phillip Gilbert,and Leonard Hughes), I dare say that not one of Tommie Liddell's teammates will see basketball for a Division 1 Program. In addition, Tommie Liddell's 1st 3 years as a varsity starter were also Dennis Brooks' 1st 3 years as a varsity coach, contrast that to Bennie Lewis' 4 state championship, Hall of Fame credentials, and being named the Coach of the 80's by the Chicago Tribune.
The Flyers finished 10-17 during Liddell's freshmen season for a winning % of 37%. The following 3 years would see the Flyers go 66-23 for a winning % of 74.1%. The Flyers would reach 2 IHSA Supersectionals and a Sectional Semi-final Rd. Incidentally each team that knocked Liddell out of postseason play went on to reach the state finals.
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News and Notes:
According to Hargrave's Post Graduate Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts, Tommie Liddell will be the teams starting point guard. By all accounts Tommie Liddell has been highly impressive in pickup games.
St Louis University Head Basketball Coach Brad Soderberg has made the trek to Chatham, Va to watch his prized prospect. Soderberg was purported to remark that Liddell was better than he anticipated. In addition Assistant Coach Angres Thorpe is scheduled to make a trip in the future. These trips seem to be a great idea as teams from the power conferences are making it known that Tommie Liddell is a highly sought after prospect. A sampling of the teams that are interested reportedly includes Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest.
Looking Forward to the 2005 Hargrave Season
One of the things that I expect recruiting experts to rave about when it comes to Liddell is his passing ability. For the 1st time in Tommie's career he will be playing with talent of equal caliber. Hargrave's roster is stocked with athletic 6'6 wings and 6'9-6'10 inch monsters. Liddell will no longer have to fill the void of being his teams top rebounder, shot blocker, and scorer. Liddell will be allowed to develop his point guard skills to the fullest as he is now surrounded by players who can finish. This teams will also allow Tommie to get out on the break and score some easy baskets in transition. All of Liddells faults as an IHSA athlete will now be assets at Hargrave. Liddell has always been a pass first guard despite the fact that his high school clearly needed him to look to score more. According to Hargrave Coach, Kevin Keatts, Tommie will not have the luxury of playing down to the competition. If he does he will not only be benched, but also embarrassed by the competition as the likes of Belleville West will now be replaced by the likes of Oak Hill Academy who have Eric Devendorf(Syracuse), Lauringburg Prep who have Chicago's Jamarcus Ellis, Winchendon Prep who have Carbondale's Justin Dentmon(Washington). In addition to all of this Liddell will be playing for a coach who will accept nothing less than Liddell's best, a far cry from his high school coach Dennis Brooks. Not to bash Brooks too much as he just completed his 1st 3 years as a varsity coach, but despite having what I considered to be one of the top 3 all-time talents that the city of East St Louis has produced, Brooks never got more than 17ppg from Liddell duing his 3yrs on the varsity level. Never really found a way to mesh all of Liddell's talents into a single package. As a results Liddell was somewhat undervalued on a national level.
Tommie Liddell will have a homecoming of sorts as his teams in slated to compete in a tournament in St Charles, Mo. titled "Best of The Midwest". The tourney is scheduled for December 4&5, 2004.
Tommie Liddell and St Louis U.
It is imperative for St Louis U to sign Tommie Liddell in the early signing period! If not, they risk losing their best b-ball recruit since Larry Hughes. At Hargrave Tommie will be exposed to some major venues as he has games scheduled at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and The U.S. Naval Academy. One other thing to consider is that this year Tommie Liddell will be evaluated as a 6'6 inch point guard as opposed to a 6'5 inch small forward. Liddell stock was degraded nationally as the 2004 class was much stronger than the 2005 class. In addition 6'5 inch small forwards, no matter how talented were pretty much a dime a dozen for the 2004 class. That is why despite being ranked as the #3 prep prospect by Chicagohoops.com and being rated the #2 prep prospect by HoopsOasis Tommie Liddell was still not rated as high as fellow state point guard prospects Jerel McNeal, Justin Dentmon,and Phillip Perry. I expect that to change as Tommie will be leading one of the nation's most talented prep school programs at Hargrave. Hargrave incidentally claimed one of the high school championships given by HoopsUSA.com for the 2004 season.
Back to SLU, one of the many things that made SLU most attractive to Liddell was first and foremost its location.Secondly SLU possibly sold Liddell on the prospect of playing in a new on-campus facility, and finally Liddell academics were somewhat shaky. All three of those reasons have possibly been addressed. Tommie Liddell being away from home in Virginia will have an opportunity to expand his horizons. He will travel a lot and come in contact with a lot of influential people who will undoubtedly attempt to stee r him to a better basketball program. If I'm a coach at Hargrave, who is looking towards the future of the program as it relates to future players. What gives my program a better bang than telling a future player that one of my former players is competing in the ACC or competing in the A-10? SLU's on campus arena is not a done deal, as they are still actively trying to find donors. Finally Hargrave Academy is renowned for taking kids from shaky academic backgrounds and getting them ready for college. Not to beat a dead horse, but peer pressure will also play a part in Liddell's decision. Being around other high major talent will cause Liddell to question if SLU is the right program for him. After seeing his teammates being wooed by the likes of programs from the major conferences, a talent like Liddell will also want the same attention. We shall see within one month, during the November signing period.
TheInsiders.com recruiting services visited Hargrave Military Academy recently and did a feature on the 2005 team. Their impression of Liddell in my opinion were misinformed.
Quoted from the article
"Two prospects are already committed. East St Louis native Tommie Liddell is headed to St Louis U. His role on the team is going to be making some jumpshots and running the show at the point, a position transition he is in the midst of making for this team".
Anyone who has seen Liddell play for his high school team, already knows Liddell was his teams point guard. This talk of position transition is in fact a error. The reason most recruiting experts don't know that Liddell's best position is that of point guard is due in large part of his play with the AAU program the St Louis Eagles. While playing with the Eagles, Tommie Liddell was often placed at the small forward position. Playing Liddell at the 3 was great for the Eagles because it allowed them to put other players on the floor who may not have been as versatile as Liddell. But it hurt Liddell nationally as most experts were rating Tommie as a 6'5 small forward. This year at Hargrave Liddell will be playing the role of point guard. This team has enough athletes to allow Liddell to really hone his skills at the 1. I expect nothing less than a Top 50 rating at the conclusion of the 2005 rating period, as a result I expect Liddell to become a hot commodity, that is if he doesn't re-up with SLU in the early signing period.
Ramblings
Is it me or is it a reality that once a player commits to SLU his national profile is somewhat diminished. I offer two examples. Tommie Liddell is widely regarded by most as a bonafide top 5 basketball prospect in the state of Illinois, however when searching most national recruiting services names such as Jamar Smith, Jerel McNeal, and Phillip Perry are often ranked ahead of Liddell. What gives? Kevin Lisch is a recent example of this thinking. When Lisch was purported to be a prime target of Illinois and Notre Dame he was ranked by most in the state of Illinois as top 5. However when he verbaled to SLU it seemed as if overnight his ranking plunged into the teens.
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